Three worlds: Heaven, Earth, and Hell.

John 19:1. Matthew 27:35-39, 45-46. John 19:26-30. On the morning Jesus was found guilty, Heaven was watching. Hebrews 12:1. The souls of the men who had given their lives for the Gospel were watching under the altar in Heaven. Adam couldn’t be their saviour; he had messed up. Noah got drunk. Though Abraham was God’s friend, he had lied about his wife, Sarah. Moses had a temper. David had blood on his hands. Solomon had too many wives. The angels were watching. Gabriel, who had taken the message of Jesus’ birth to Mary, was watching. The archangel, Michael, was watching.

It had to be a sacrifice.

Jesus was enough man to feel our sorrow, but He was enough God to come up out of the grave. He was enough man to weep at the tomb of Lazarus, but enough God to cry, “Lazarus, come forth.” He was enough man to get tired and lay His head down in the bow of the ship, but enough God to speak, “Peace, be still,” and have the waves obey. He was enough man to get hungry, but He was enough God to feed five thousand with a little boy’s fish and loaves. He who is without sin carried stripes on His back for me and carried the weight of every one of my sins.

I wonder what some of the conversation was.

“I wonder if He will stand,” says one.

“I wonder if He will recant,” says another.

“I wonder if He will be faithful ‘till death,” says a third.

Isaiah stands up under the altar in Heaven as he cries, “Is that the one I prophesied about? Is that the one going to be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities? Is this Him?”

The world was watching.

The world stood in attention for the verdict. The verdict was to release Barabas and crucify Jesus. The morning that this verdict took place, the world was watching. Prophets and teachers were searching the Scriptures, “Is this Him? Look at his back! Is He really the one that Isaiah prophesied about?”

Others with diseases asked, “Is this the One who’s going to take my sickness on His back? Is this the One that by His stripes I am healed?” You have a legal right to a miracle.

I can see the woman who was caught in the act of adultery there, weeping, crying out. Some try to shut her up.

“No! You don’t understand! He’s not just dying; He’s dying for me!”

She cries as she remembers when she would have been stoned, but Jesus wrote in the sand and told her to go and sin no more. The law required her to die, but Jesus took her sins upon Himself as He hung there on that cross, “You don’t understand. He’s a righteous man, a holy man. He’s dying on account of me.”

Peter was watching from the wrong campfire, using the wrong language, denying that he ever knew Christ, I denied him. Will He die for me? I could see him dying for me if I was a good man, but I’m not a good man.” Peter watched to see if the Word would die for him.

The soldiers, professional killers, were watching. This is their job, to crucify wicked men. You know they’ve been scratched and bit by those they’ve beaten and battered. But there’s something different about this Man who’s led like a lamb to the slaughter. They crucify the thieves. Then they come to Jesus, but He doesn’t fight.

Nature was watching. 

The rooster was ready to crow when Peter denied Jesus. The sun was ready to darken around 3 o’clock. The veil in the temple was watching on high alert, waiting to rip from the top to the bottom for Mercy to meet Truth. Rocks were on alert, busting up like gravel.

Hell was watching.

Demons are laughing. They think they’re winning. I wonder if there were at least one or two doubters in the group.

“We’ve got Him now!”

One stands there, “Well, that’s what you told us when you were gonna kill Moses. Coming in telling us you drowned 300 today, but you still didn’t get him.”

Another comes up, “Oh yeah, remember when you told us you were going to make God look bad when you were going to burn up those 3 Hebrew boys? Even today they teach about them in Sunday School, and sing songs about them.”

The other speaks again, “And what about when you were going to stop that praying man, Daniel? You really think you’re going to stop the Lamb of God forever when you couldn’t stop Daniel even for a little bit?”

“That’s not just a man hanging there. That’s the Word.”

I don’t know what you are going through right now, but there are 3 worlds watching you.

It’s not true that the only time God can use you is if your cup is running over. There are people all over the church whose light has never shined brighter and they are going through one of the hardest times in their lives. Sickness, death, depression, attacking on every side, worlds shaking. Your cup doesn’t have to be running over for you to touch the world. Sometimes you only have enough to make it, but if you will just keep on walking.

Hell watches you, trying to make you quit and give up, trying to make you throw in the towel. If the devil can stop you, he will have stopped your kids. It’s not only Hell and Heaven watching, our youth watches us. They look at us thinking if we can walk through it, then they can too. But if we can’t make it, then they won’t have a chance.

Get up! You may be hurt, and you may want to give up, but Earth is watching you.

3 worlds are watching you. What are you going to do?

— Pastor Anthony Wynn